Documentary inspires couple to work the land

Will Smith of Centre Township and his wife, Kelly, were inspired to take up farming by the documentary film "Food Inc." "Everything we did was an experiment," he said. "I'd never done any of this stuff in my life."

Will Smith and his wife, Kelly, decided to produce their own food after watching "Food Inc.," a documentary about the methods used in the mass production of food.

They worked out a deal with Kelly's father, Larry Phillips, to start farming on 150 acres of land he owned in Mohrsville. With that access to land, Smith considers himself lucky.

"To go out and buy a farm, and get access to land, it's one of the biggest challenges of someone trying to farm," Smith said. "We are so grateful to them to allow us to come in here and try all of this stuff."

In the beginning they experimented. Would they like raising chickens? Beef?

"Everything we did was an experiment," Smith said. "I'd never done any of this stuff in my life."

Three years later, the Smiths are raising chickens for meat and eggs, turkeys, pigs and beef on what they named Deep Roots Valley Farm. They sell directly to consumers, what is known as a CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture.

The biggest barrier the couple faced was figuring out the paperwork needed to meet the licensing and certification requirements.

"There isn't a good source of information for what you need to do," Smith said. "To be a farmer and sell directly to people, there's not a good guide. It's all written in bureaucratic terms, which can be a challenge to get through."

Luckily for Smith, other farmers were very willing to help, allowing him to visit their operations to ask for advice.